Video: Who were those “science advisors” behind the NY fracking ban?

Jazz ShawPosted at 6:41 pm on June 8, 2015

Last week we talked about the bombshell EPA report which said that fracking didn’t have any demonstrated, systemic effect on ground water quality. (Well, it was a “bombshell” unless you work at the NY Times, which didn’t find that it merited much of a mention.) One of the places most affected by this information should be New York State, where Governor Andrew Cuomo relied on “expert scientific advice” to ban the practice indefinitely. This has resulted in an incredible prosperity gap between New York and Pennsylvania, as I wrote about in A Tale of Two Counties and Fracking.

Now the truth has come out and we are left wondering precisely who all of these brain trust science minds were who advised Governor Cuomo as he considered the fracking ban. In their usual helpful fashion, Energy In Depth has released a video which gives you a tour of this panel of acclaimed experts and how they relate to the scientific debate over fracking. You won’t believe what they found. Let’s give this short video a look before proceeding.

Mark Ruffalo, Yoko Ono and Sean Lennon are all involved in the scrum. But the interesting bits come from the allegedly science based folks. Al Armendariz, a former EPA regional administrator, tells a story about how he likes to get people’s attention. He compares his “educational” efforts to the Romans coming into a town and crucifying a few people as soon as they arrive.

And then that town was really easy to manage for the next five years.

Sandra Steingraber peer reviewed the report leading to the ban. You may not know her name, but she is a co-founder of New Yorkers Against Fracking. (Thank God they went to unbiased sources, eh?) She signed a statement for purposes of the report saying that she had “no competing interests” in registering her opinion and review. She also gave a speech (shown in the video) where she demonstrates that she believes that fracking involves “lowering explosives into the hole. BOOM.”

The scientific knowledge on display here is truly dizzying. (The fracturing is done with pressure, not explosives. But she’s an “expert” so what do I know?) Oh, and she’s also the person who said that fracking was part of the war on women because the only jobs for females coming from fracking were for “hotel maids and prostitutes.” I’d love to share that with some of the female gas field riggers I personally know. They must be thrilled.

Possibly one of the best lines comes from Anthony Ingraffea, founder of a prominent anti-fracking group. He explains how Mark Ruffalo has more than a million Twitter followers and he sends Mark 140 characters once in a while and Ruffalo just shoots them out without question.

He’s my megaphone.

These are the experts that Governor Cuomo relied on to institute the ban. Enjoy the video, assuming you don’t vomit during it. (In which case I apologize in advance.)